Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-04-02
THE GOBLIN MOTH.
SPRING AND SUMMER REMEDIES
AGAINST THE PEST.
Various Experiments Tried and the
ResnIts-M Methods of Prepara-
ton of Remedies-Etc.

State Inspector of Pests w. G. Klee has
issued the following concerning the Goblin
moth:
| II is needless to write at length about the
rayages of the Goblin moth, and Of the i'm
portance of finding thorough remedy
| against the pest. In paper read before
| the Fruit Growers Convention, held in
November last, expressed the belief that
spraying with arseniates We're the most
| promising of anything yet tried for this
! purpose. | also maintained that while the
| remedy doubtless would prove efiicacious,
| killing the Goblin larva if used often enough,
! ii would be little premature to recon-
mend it as the remedy, because of the very
poisonous nature of the compounds, and
/ that we needed thorough trial to settle
| definitely the all-important question if
| either of the arseniates would be of any
danger to the consumers of fruits so pro-
| tected. Since expressing this | have been
| in active correspondence with the State En-
! tomologist OF Illinois, Prof. s. A. Forbes,
and feel happy to state that his thorough
experiments, although made on compare
| lively small scale, have proved to my mind
! that in the climate of the Eastern States,
the arseniates can be made decided sue
cess by proper application, thereby saving
is no danger in using either of them in the
climate, that is, if used in season. The
| Bulletin, No. l, of Professor Forbes, was
! kindly sent to me, and have freely quoted
| from it in the following. Professor Forbes
has reached the following conclusions !;
| That the results of once or twice spraying
with Paris green in early spring before the
young apples had dropped upon their
stems, resulted in saving of about seven
| ty-fye per cent. of the apples exposed to
injury by the Goblin moth.
The arsenic remedies have, to my knowl-
edge, been used by several persons in this
State, but while they have been more or
less successful, yet except in the case of
apples sprayed with arsenic solution by
Messrs. Settle and Ousley, in the Santa
! Clara Valley, as mentioned in my paper,
no official analysis has been made of fruit
| treated with arsenic. These apples were
| found perfectly free from any trace of arse
mic, although sprayed twice, and in the
case of Mr.. Onsley fifty per cent. of the fruit
saved. 1t must, however, be borne in
mind, that while arsenic, or arsenious acid,
is very soluble, in fact is dissolved by the
least moisture Paris green and London
purple are not, and will remain on the fruit
even after heavy transforms, as has been
proved by recent analysis in Illinois.
Hence, these must be regarded as decidedly
| dangerous when used late, when the apple
has size and is hanging down. 1t seems
| that it is the actual growth of the apple
that throws off the poison. as none have
| been found on fruit treated early in the
Eastern climate. If there be any possible
danger from the use of these substances it
will be determined definitely and we shall
bear this point especially in mind in our
experiments this summer. We ask every
one disposed to experiment to note care
fully the time and manner of application,
the condition of the fruit sprayed, and also
the state of the weather. A number of
samples of fruit thus treated and analysed,
will settle the question of the danger to the
consumer.
Paris green is a compound of arsenic and
copper. 1t is a far more powerful poison
than arsenic alone, and is not soluble in
water, hence will remain much longer on
the trees. As stated before, in the Eastern
States it is used in preference 10 arsenic, as
it is not so liable to be washed off by rain !;
and another advantage is that it will not
hurt the foliage except when used in an
overdose. Such, at least, is the report from
the East. / have taken considerable pains
to ascertain if any damage has resulted
from its use in this State. | have learned
recently, on visit to Contra Costa county,
of Mr.. Treat that peach trees treated with
Paris green for the purpose of killing diabro-
tica beetle, suffered severely, but used upon
apples and pears it had no bad effect
Doubtless it will be found that Paris green
in market will vary in strength; the pro-
portion to be based on the percentage of
fifteen per cent. arsenic. The price of Paris
green in San Francisco, by the small guam
tity, is twenty-five cents per pound.
ppapoprrONs rrsEn
One pound Paris green to fifty-four gal
Ions of water is the strength used by Prof.
Forbes for his successful experiments.
Other parties claiming to have been equally
successful have used only half the strength.
The Paris green is stirred and mixed with
the water and kept constantly stirred while
being sprayed.
LONDON PURPLE.
London purple is another arsenical COM
pound. 1t is the residue from theimanu-
facture of aniline dyes, and contains lime,
arsenious acid and carbonaceous matter 1t
is more soluble, more adhesive, less pois-
onous, and less expensive than Paris green.
This compound in San Francisco is worth,
by small quantities, twenty cents per
pound and by larger quantities twenty-five
and one-half cents. 1t is mixed to paste
and then diluted. Professor Cook of Mich
igan recommends one pound to fifty gallons
of water; others, as little as one pound TO
two hundred gallons. We intend to try
these different strengths ourselves, but
should not recommend less than one pound
to one hundred gallons. As the compound
contains some arsenious acid, it would be
advisable to use it on cloudy days if posi-
BILE, as it might damage the foliage.
WHITE ARSENIC. OR ARsFNIoUs ACID.
One pound to two hundred gallons of
water, the arsenic being first dissolved by
being boiled with caustic potash. Expert
ments with this compound in Santa Clara
accomplished considerable good, and, it is
plain, without any danger to the consul
mer but in nearly every case the foliage
of the trees has been damaged-in som
cases badly, in others partially; and in
only one case, where the application was
made during the morning of a cloudy day,
no damage was caused to the tree. Al
though less promising than of the other
remedies, it deserves trial.
MANNER OF APPLICATION.
1t is of great importance that when ap-
piled the poison be well mixed in the wa
ter, and in the case of Paris green and Lon
don purple it is necessary to select such
nozzles as do not clog. The mixture
should be thrown over the tree so that
every apple or pear is wetted, as it is by
actual poisoning of the fruit that the egg or
worm is killed. Thrown with fine spray,
two and one-half gallons of the mixture
will suffice for large apple tree.
TIME OF APPLICATION.
For reasons before mentioned, it is essen